Humidifiers use an arrangement in which an endless humidifier pad is fitted over some type of rotating drum arrangement and the pad is rotated about a horizontal axis. The lower reach of the pad passes through an open pan of water or the like from which it picks up water. At the same time, air is forced outwardly from within the inner confines of the pad and through the pad to vaporize the water and humidify the surrounding air.
Conventional humidifier pads are however less than efficient in a number of respects, a primary one of which is that they are not able to effectively carry the picked up water during the vertical travel of the belt and at the same time to effectively disperse the water for humidifying. In other words, the water which is picked up tends to immediately flow back down to the pickup point. This problem has long been recognized and some humidifiers such as that disclosed in Canadian Pat. No. 816,489 issued July 1, 1969 employ means for returning the water which runs off the pad back to the pan or reservoir. However, this obviously does not increase the efficiency of the pad.
The present invention provides a highly efficient humidifier pad means and method of making same. The humidifier pad means comprises a fibrous layer provided with high density zones adapted to substantially eliminate the downward gravitational flow across the zones by the water which is picked up by the humidifier pad means as it is passed through a water reservoir so that during the vertical movement of the humidifier pad means the amount of water draining back to the reservoir is insignificant and most of the water picked up by the fibrous layer is held in the pad means and dispersed over its surface for vaporization to the surrounding air.
The pad means can also be used to replace the standard solid end wall of a conventional rotating drum which maximizes the humidifying capacity of any humidifier on which the pad means is used.